Spokane is a located on the eastern side of Washington State, approx. 20 miles from the Idaho border and 230 miles from Seattle. Personally, I never heard of it until I married Scott over 20 years ago (Scott’s family lives in nearby Coeur d’Alene, Idaho). Spokane is the “big city” in the region and is known for being the home of Bing Crosby, Expo 74 and Gonzaga University (my father-in-law loves the Zags!). It probably isn’t on your vacation bucket list, but maybe you should rethink that. It is one of those places that can surprise you and it is definitely worth taking a walk through, like we did the other day. You can spend hours poking around Spokane and before you know you’ll find you’ve walked over ten miles and there is still plenty that you missed.
They have these handy maps strategically placed on the sidewalks throughout downtown Spokane. You can see my feet on the map. I’m one of those people who has to turn maps around in my hands so that it is facing the way we need to go. It is the only way I can tell my left from my right and figure out which way to turn. Putting maps on sidewalks is a brilliant idea for people like me. You can just step right onto the map and position yourself facing the way you want to go.
We kicked off our walk in the theatre district. It cost us around $4 to park our car all day on the street. In most cities it usually costs you and arm and a leg to park your car, but not in Spokane. You should come here just for the cheap parking meters.
We started off the day with Scott taking picture of old signs. We ended the day with him taking pictures of old signs. We spent most of the day with Scott taking pictures of old signs. You get the idea. Oh, look. I just happen to have a picture of an old sign from the theatre district.
When we set out it was chucking down rain, so we hid out in a coffee shop for a while. There was a woman there who decided that it was an ideal place to do her entire morning beauty routine while sipping on a coffee. By the end of it, she had some really big hair and a lot of mascara and eyeliner on. Hopefully, it was all waterproof as it was raining cats and dogs.
After coffee, we headed over to the Spokane Cathedral where we met a guy who told us about the pilgrimage he made to Lourdes. I thought he had kind eyes and he probably has an even kinder soul. I imagine he isn’t the type of person to write a snarky comment in his blog about women with big hair and lots of makeup.
Next, we headed down to the river to look at the Spokane Falls, a series of dams and waterfalls which are used for power generation. You can take a gondola down the river to have a look at the falls or just walk along the path like we did.
The falls are located in Riverfront Park which was created after Expo 74. The Expo was a big deal for Spokane. Nixon even showed up and made a speech to cries from the audience, “Jail to the Chief!” (Watergate forced him out of office shortly thereafter). Scott remembers the Expo from when he lived in Coeur d’Alene as a boy. The structures they built have that classic 70s look – what people imagined the future would look like one day. It reminds me of Tomorrowland at Disney World in some ways. Today, it looks a bit kitschy and tired in some places, but there are plans to revitalize the area.
In one of the Expo structures (the United States Pavilion), you can find kiddie rides during the summer. Some of them have seen better days.
I have no idea what this pig is supposed to be about. Poor thing is just sitting there all on its lonesome wishing some kids would come by and say howdy.
After walking through the Riverfront Park, we headed over to Domini’s to get a sandwich. We only needed one sandwich between the two of us as they pile on more meat and cheese then you can possibly imagine onto bread as thick as your average phone book. The sandwiches are huge, even by American standards, and that’s saying a lot! Domini’s has been in business forever and haven’t changed at all over the years. And why should they change? Once someone’s been to Domini’s, they become a lifelong customer. Every time Scott’s dad was on business in Spokane, he would stash away a bunch of sandwiches in his suitcase and bring them back to North Dakota for Scott and his brothers. When their dad walked in the door after a long trip, the boys ran right past him, grabbed his suitcase and started scarfing down the sandwiches as fast as they could.
Like Hudson’s Burgers in Coeur d’Alene, they keep ordering simple. You choose your meat, chees and type of bread. No lettuce, not tomato, no nothing except a pickle on the side if you’re feeling adventurous. But there is popcorn - lots and lots of yummy popcorn.
Of course, even though
the décor at Domini’s hasn’t changed over the years, the conversations
have. While we were there, I overheard some folks at another table
talking about places to buy marijuana now that it is legal in Washington
State. Not a conversation you would have heard a year ago. I even saw a
sign on a building advising how many feet you had to be away from the
building in order to smoke marijuana. You used to just see those signs
for cigarettes.
Our next stop was the Davenport Hotel, an iconic landmark in Spokane. It originally opened in 1914 and was quite the cutting edge place back then with air conditioning, a pipe organ and central vacuuming. Anyone who was anyone in the Northwest spent time at the Davenport. The hotel shut down in 1985 and lay dormant for years. Fortunately, it was renovated in 2000 and you can pay a visit today to see the stunning Spanish Renaissance lobby, the Hall of Doges, the hand painted frescoes and ornate woodwork and marble.
After imagining what it would be like to have stayed in the Davenport in the olden days, we headed back out to hit the pavement and take some more photos of old signs. There are a lot of them in Spokane. Scott wants to go back for another walk so that he can document all of them. I think I’m going to need to create a Pinterest board just for his photos. In the meantime, here are some final shots to hold you over. The Merlin is one of my favorite signs - high class, neat and clean apartments on offer. And if you can’t afford an apartment, you can always get a low rent but strictly modern single room.
Walk on 22 August 2014
Linked up to Travel Tuesday with Bonnie Camila, Jessi, and Amy
Scott and I have been hanging out in Coeur d'Alene tending to some family matters lately. Here is a little glimpse into what we've been getting up to in this pretty little resort town on Lake Coeur d'Alene in Northern Idaho.
Northern Idaho is known for its beautiful lakes and whenever you have lakes, you have boats. Because we're between boats just now, Scott and I have had to get our fix by visiting the various marinas on Lake Coeur d'Alene and Lake Pend Oreille. {The picture above is from the Panhandle Marina in Bayview.} Scott has even managed to get hooked into the racing scene and has been out a few times, including participating in the Spud Cup Regatta. Their logo is so cute - little potatoes sailing boats. If you sail in a state known for its potatoes which brags about them on your license plates, then of course you're going to name your regattas after them! Scott is pretty pleased to be able to add the States to his list of countries that he has raced in (New Zealand, Scotland and Ireland).
For some reason, every time I'm back in the States, I am absolutely astonished by the portion sizes when you eat out. You would think I would remember that this is the country that invented "super size", but I never do. Of course, we've fallen back into our American ways and have embraced gluttony. We've hit some of our favorite dining spots while in Coeur d'Alene including one of my all time favorites - Hudson's Hamburgers. Hudson's has been around forever and is one of the few things in this world that hasn't changed. There are lines outside the door at all hours of the day with folks eager to get a stool at the counter. Ordering at Hudson's is pretty simple - the only things on offer are hamburgers, cheeseburgers, ham & cheese sandwiches and pie. Don't try to get any fancy toppings on your burger - you have a choice between pickles and onions. That's it. And if you want fries, try McDonald's.
We've been to the VA (Veterans Affairs) hospital in Spokane, Washington and the clinic in Coeur d'Alene a few times lately. It is pretty sobering to visit VA facilities - you see older gentlemen with Korean War caps struggling to get around in their walkers and guys who are missing limbs. I think most Americans, regardless of their political beliefs, would agree that how we treat our veterans is shocking. Many of the homeless men and women you see on the street corner when you're driving by are veterans. A shocking number of veterans take their own lives every day. And then there are the veterans who die waiting for care in the VA system. We can and should do better for these men and women.
Idaho is a beautiful state nestled in the Rocky Mountains. Over 60% of Idaho is public land with some of the largest areas of unspoilt lands that you can find anywhere in the States. We've been taking advantage of our time in Idaho enjoying the outdoors here - going for drives in the countryside with Scott's dad and exploring the area on foot and bicycle. We have to try to work off our gluttony somehow!
That's life in Coeur d'Alene lately...here's hoping the gorgeous weather continues for while!
If you ever find yourself in Northern Idaho and want to get to Murray on the back roads, don’t use this map.
Sure, the map is free, but the roads on it don’t seem to bear any resemblance to any sort of reality. I think it is more of a conceptual map. It is what someone imagined roads could look like in Northern Idaho. I suspect that it was a school project by some kids in Bangladesh that the State of Idaho somehow got a hold of and decided to print off for penny pinching motorists who aren’t willing to shell out any money for a proper map. Yep, that would be us. The cheap ones. And for some reason, we have at least seven copies of this map.
Scott, one of my brothers-in-law, my father-in-law and I headed off for one of our scenic drives the other day with this trusty map in hand. And before you say it, no, there is no cell phone reception in the mountains, so asking Siri where the heck we were and how to get to Murray wasn’t really an option at the time. Sure, we could have researched our route before we set off, but what’s the fun in that?
If you find yourself up in Northern Idaho, make sure you find time to get to Murray. It is an old mining town which was known for gold and prostitutes. Today, it has a couple of bars, a museum and a cemetery and is a fun day trip from Coeur d’Alene. We couldn’t find the turn-off for the back road up to Murray, so we ended up going there the boring way via I-90 to the turn off to Prichard and then over to Murray. I suggest you take that route too (unless you have a better map then we did).
Once you get to Murray, start off in the cemetery. You can see grave markers for some of the famous residents of Murray – like Molly B’Damn. Molly (originally Maggie Hall from Ireland) was a local prostitute who was beloved by the community for her efforts nursing miners during a smallpox epidemic. Here is a picture of her grave. People leave coins and jewelery at her grave site.
And here is what she looked like. I wish I could pull off a hat and stole like she did.
After the cemetery, head into town and stop off at the Sprag Pole bar and order yourself a beer. When I asked the lady behind the bar what they had on tap, she rattled off the usual suspects, like Pabst Blue Ribbon. And then she mentioned that they had Kokanee. I asked her what kind of beer it was and she said Canadian. I have to admit I was a bit perplexed. I thought she might describe it as a lager, a stout, an amber or something like that. But no, the description was just Canadian. I have no idea what that means. Back when I was in Michigan, I thought I was so fancy when I used to drink Labatt’s, imported all the way across the border from Canada. So I decided to take a gamble and go international again with the Kokanee. It was pretty tasty - there is more to Canada then just Tim Horton's and maple syrup.
Once you have your beer in hand, head to the back of the bar and check out the Sprag Pole Museum. Admission is free and you can take your beer with you. My kind of place. It is a pretty quirky and interesting place. Their tag line is “no ordinary museum” and that seems like a pretty apt description. In addition to exhibits on Molly B’Damn, mining, logging and forestry fighting, there are also collections of all sorts of things on display. Like whiskey jugs, typewriters, buttons, coins and even those trolls that some of used to have on the end of your pencil in school. I think the museum is basically a warehouse of everything that was stored in people’s basements and garages in Murray. It is a fascinating glimpse of Americana. Like these buttons.
And these keys.
And this display of costume jewelry, complete with an Elvis pin.
Did you know you could make artwork out of old shotgun shells and bullets?
After you’ve explored the museum, walk along the main street and check out the old buildings.
Take the obligatory photo of the post office.
Then head over to the other bar in town and check out the old gold mine inside.
Once you’ve seen all the sights that Murray has to offer, if you’re feeling brave, pull out your useless map and pick a back road at random. Keep your fingers crossed that it actually leads back to Coeur d’Alene. As you can tell, we did make it back to Coeur d’Alene in the end. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be reading this post. It was a really nice drive back and we had some great views of the North Coeur d’Alene River along the way. If you decide to take this route, make sure you keep an eye out for two things – falling rock and stray bullets.
The road we were driving along was graveled, pretty narrow and runs along a ridge with a steep drop-off. It wasn’t too bad until we go to the signs that said “falling rock” and “road narrows”. I don’t think any of us believed the road could get any narrower. It did. And there was a lot of rock on the road. It looked fresh, like it had just dropped off of the overhang minutes before. This is the kind of place you don’t want to honk your horn in. Thankfully, we survived this stretch of road. I find keeping my eyes closed helps.
But the danger didn't end as just before the road became paved and headed down to Fernan Lake, we saw a sign that read “no shooting”. Well, of course, there were a few guys up there shooting in exactly the same direction as our car was headed. Thankfully, the guys have pretty good aim and we made it back to Coeur d’Alene without any bullet holes in our vehicle. Or maybe they had really bad aim and were actually trying to hit us?
Drive on Wednesday, 27 August 2014
Coeur d’Alene is a resort town in the panhandle of Idaho (between Montana and Washington State) nestled in the mountains and surrounded by dozens of lakes. Although Scott primarily grew up in North Dakota, he did go to middle school in Coeur d’Alene and has fond memories of town. Scott’s immediate family now lives in the area, so I’ve been coming back to visit over the past 20+ years. While the area has grown considerably over the years, it still manages to (mostly) retain its charm, despite the increase in population. Scott’s dad lives in downtown Coeur d’Alene so we’ve being going for walks whenever we can.
One of the first things you see when you head into the center of town is Paul Bunyan. I remember reading about him when I was a little girl. I remember how strong he was, how he could wield his heavy axe and all the flapjacks that he ate. Nowadays, he has come down a bit in the world and is selling hamburgers.
Here is what the main street that runs through downtown looks like. They do a nice job keeping it pretty with all of the hanging flower baskets. See that Clark’s sign? The first girl that Scott ever kissed was the daughter of the owner of the Clark’s jewelry store.
Scott’s eyes lit up when he saw this mural with sailboats on it. Coeur d’Alene Lake is popular with boaters, jet skiers, kayakers and of course, the latest fad of stand up paddle boarding. Personally, I don’t get it, but a lot of people seem to be trying it out on the lake.
If you want to go sailing, you can rent Hobie catamarans near the North Idaho College.
When we go for walks, we like to poke down back alleys. They can be pretty interesting places. Coeur d’Alene is full of old brick buildings like these.
You can also find all sorts of old junk when you wander down alleys. Which I guess isn’t really a surprise. If you market it just right, this is the type of thing that people with too much money in their wallets will pay too much money for.
Scott is into taking pictures of old signs lately. Like this one.
There are a lot of new trendy restaurants and bars since the last time we were in Coeur d’Alene. I think this place used to be an old muffler shop or something. If trendy isn’t your thing (and the prices that go with it), there are still a few dive bars around where you can play pool and smoke indoors. I think Idaho may be one of only a few States where establishments can choose to allow smoking inside.
Moose seem to be a pretty big thing in Coeur d’Alene, so I’ll leave you with a couple of shots just so that you are familiar with what they look like in case you decide to come for a visit. Not only can you find moose on top of buildings, they have also turned them into giant bookends at the local library.
Walks during August 2014
Scott has had to come back to the States from Scotland to tend to some unexpected family matters, so we’ve been spending some time together in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, where his family lives. Not only has it been great to see him again (it’s been several months), but we’ve also been having some fun exploring the area. Northern Idaho is a beautiful part of the country. If you’ve never been to this part of the world (the panhandle area between Montana and Washington), you’re missing out on some stunning mountains, lots of lakes and forests, incredible wildlife and guns.
People like their guns here. And if you own a gun, you need to keep your shooting skills sharp. But why go to a target range, when there are all of these handy targets right along the road in the form of speed limit signs and stop signs. Like this sign here. I’m guessing the folks that shot up this sign didn’t like the “recommendation” that they only go 25 miles per hour?
We saw this sign on a little drive Scott and I took with his father to explore some of the small towns south of Coeur d’Alene. It was a pretty drive chock full of gorgeous scenery and signs with bullet holes. We started off on I-90 and headed east to Wolf Lodge. Do you like steak? Do you like a lot of steak? Do you like eating a steak so big that it will instantly coat your arteries with cholesterol just by looking at it? Then you’ll love the steakhouse at Wolf Lodge. I know we do. If you’re a vegetarian, they might give you a salad. Maybe.
It was too early in the morning for steak (after all we had just had a big breakfast which consisted mostly of bacon), so we picked up Route 97 and drove along the eastern side of Coeur d’Alene Lake towards Anderson Lake. Pretty isn’t it?
Next stop after taking this picture was the little town of Harrison. My father-in-law and I like taking pictures at post offices – better to have a picture of a post office then have your picture in the post office on one of the Most Wanted posters.
Harrison is a sweet little town. I have no idea how many people live in Harrison, but I suspect that they are big drinkers. We went into the local grocery store and it seemed like half of the space was taken up with beer, wine and liquor sales. Okay, perhaps I am exaggerating, but they do have a great selection at the store. We even picked up a bottle of Sailor Jerry spiced rum for my father-in-law. His name is Jerry and he has gone sailing with Scott a few times so it seemed like an appropriate gift. Who wants a necktie or a “My Dad Is The Greatest” mug, when you can have your own personalized bottle of rum with a cute girl on the bottle.
After having a coffee and buying our booze, we did a little wander around the town while Scott took some photos. Scott is slightly obsessed with taking pictures of old signs these days. Like this one.
From Harrison, we took Route 3 towards St. Maries. But don’t pronounce it like it is spelled. People will instantly know you are an outsider from someplace like Cleveland. If you say “St. Mary’s” instead then you might just pass as a local. Probably not though. St. Maries is bigger than Harrison. You can find pretty much anything there. Scott found fudge. For some reason, he has been craving fudge. Real fudge, not that stuff they try to pass off in New Zealand as fudge. Be cautious of that stuff. It is nothing like fudge made in the good old USA. Yep, when it comes to fudge, we’re patriots. Instead of waving flags, we wave boxes of fudge. I think world peace could be achieved if the guys and gals at the United Nations ate more fudge at their meetings.
While in St. Maries, we also stopped at one of the stores to see if I could find a hat as the sun was super bright. I didn’t find a hat, but I did see this moose hanging up in the hardware section.
After leaving St. Marie’s, you drive along the St. Joe River and you say “oooh” and “aaah” in between bites of fudge because it is just so darn scenic. Apparently, everyone else thinks so as there are tons of RVs parked along the river in campgrounds. We hit the National Forest Service district office in St. Joe’s to say hi to Smokey Bear and load up on maps, pamphlets and brochures. I thought the pamphlet on “Edible and Medicinal Plants” might come in handy if we got lost.
After you drive through St. Joe’s (look for the signs, otherwise you won’t know you were there), we passed through Calder. I like this sign.
And then we got to Avery. Of course, we visited their post office. It takes up a tiny corner in the old railway station which has been turned into a museum.
And they have an old train car outside the museum which you can walk through. It has that certain retro vibe. My father-in-law said that it looked just like the ones he took back in the day. I love this wallpaper that was hanging up in the train.
Other than the post office, the museum and a gift shop, there isn’t too much else to see in Avery, so we continued on our way. The last time Scott was visiting his father, they did a similar driving trip. They got as far as Avery and then turned on to Route 456 to make their way to Wallace. There are a number of tunnels through the mountains and I think they only made it through two before they were stopped by a wall of ice at the end of the third tunnel. This was in the month of April. That will give you an idea of what winters can be like in Northern Idaho. Fortunately, at this time of the year, the road was open all the way through so on we went.
This is one of the bridges over the St. Joe River along the way. Scott did his usual thing of standing way too close to the edge of the cliff to take this picture.
Before getting to Wallace, our first priority was to find a place to have lunch. We stopped in a spot at the North Fork campground to see if there were any picnic tables. Have you ever seen the movie Deliverance? If you haven’t seen it, don’t. Unless, of course, you like disturbing movies about scary hillbillies who have been inbreeding for far too many generations and aren’t very fond of outsiders. Then you’ll love it. Especially the scene with the banjo music. Well, suffice it to say, we had our own little glimpse of a Deliverance type of family at the first spot we stopped at. They made it pretty clear that we should move on. We didn’t argue.
We found another spot where the people seemed to have the normal amount of toes and fingers and we had a lovely picnic which Scott had packed. I was glad Scott had brought along some wine (made by his dad!). It helped settle our nerves after the Deliverance encounter.
Once our bellies were full, we got back on the road. Here is another picture of a bridge. It is made out of wood, but it seemed pretty sturdy. The road is graveled (or “unsealed” in Kiwi-speak), so the wood bridge was a nice relief from the bumpy road. Along the way, Scott and his dad started to keep an eye out for moose. Apparently, we were driving along prime moose territory. They told me to be on the lookout too. Fortunately, I had seen that moose head in St. Maries, so I knew what I was looking for.
Along the way, there was a lot of conversation between Scott and his dad about their various hunting trips. It seems like guys from North Dakota like to talk about hunting when they get together. I kind of tuned them out after a while. I have no interest in hearing about hunting, but I’m always happy to eat any pheasant that Scott brings home, especially when he cooks it wrapped in bacon in a sherry cream sauce. I bet you wish you had your own Scott - not only does he know how to sail, he can also cook up a tasty dish or two.
After a lot of single lane tunnels (put your lights on, honk and hope for the best when you enter them), we made it to Wallace. Here are some picture of old signs that you can find there.
If you don’t like old signs, they also have a spaceship! I always wondered where the aliens visited when they came to investigate Planet Earth. Turns out it is Wallace, Idaho. I guess they didn’t know about the fudge in St. Maries or else they would have gone there instead.
And of course, no town in Northern Idaho would be complete without some taxidermy. You can find these guys at one of the many antique shops in the town.
And I’ll leave you with one final moose shot just so you know they look like in case you’re ever out in this neck of the woods.
Drive on Wednesday, 20 August 2014
Linked up to Travel Tuesday with Bonnie Camila, Jessi, and Amy
